Alternate Reality: Mermaid
by Celeste5502
Summary: When an underwater kingdom falls prey to an evil plot, it's up to Yugi and Joey to save the day, along with one very unexpected new ally...Feel free to R&R!
1. Prologue: AntiMagic

Prologue: Anti-Magic

_Two weeks before…_

Seto Kaiba was standing in his bedroom, his brother Mokuba clutching his blue duster tightly. The two were staring at the corner of the room, where a bright portal-like opening was shining and three shadowy figures were looking back at them.

Last night, Kaiba and Mokuba had already had a strange encounter with four nasty beings called Resheph, Susiros, Styx, and Nox. The four of them had attempted to destroy Kaiba and get away with kidnapping his brother, but they had suddenly been saved by a most unexpected group: Yugi and his friends. And not only had they saved them, but they had done so with strange powers that they called 'magic'. Kaiba, of course, knew that had to be pure bull, and immediately brushed it off.

That morning, however, something strange had started happening to Kaiba; his outline had started glowing with a bright, white light, and bright white sparks had started shooting out of his hands-similar to the abilities that the geek squad had demonstrated.

And as if that wasn't insane enough, now suddenly these three had appeared in his room through some weird, glowing portal.

"Who are you three?!" Kaiba yelled at the shadowy figures.

_That's not important at the moment, Kaiba. For now, all that you need to know is that we're here to help you with learning to accept your new gift of magic._

"Don't you dare try to tell me about that fairy tale junk again," Kaiba said. "I've already gotten enough of that from those dorks last night."

"Fairy tale junk, eh?" another voice said from the light. "Then what exactly do you call that stuff shooting out of your fingers?"

Kaiba looked down at his hands, still shooting out white sparks like crazy. "I don't know…I don't even know where this came from!"

_Remember last night, when that black and violet orb came at you? You recall that you chose to absorb it, in order to protect your brother, yes?_

"So?"

_Well, Kaiba, that orb was meant to be a spell which would strip an already magical being of their powers. However, it hit _you_, a non-magical entity, and thus the spell had no choice but to do the opposite of what it was meant for._

"In other words," the second voice said, "the spell gave to you what it had meant to take from the...geek squad, I believe you like to call them?"

Kaiba snarled."Don't you dare start comparing me to those dweebs! I'm nothing like them!"

_Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba…some people would be enthralled to receive the gifts of the defenders of their worlds. We cannot understand how you can be so opposed to it._

Kaiba folded his arms. "I have to run a multi-million dollar company, which requires me to be logical and rational. I have no time to even consider some ridiculous possibility of…powers."

_Sigh…even when it's coming right out of your fingers, you still choose to disbelieve it. Well, we're sorry, Seto Kaiba, but we can't just let you continue on like this. You eventually have to start using your gift for what it's meant for-and that's going to include working with the 'geek squad'._

"If you think for one second that I'm even going to consider teaming up with them-"

_THAT WAS NOT A REQUEST, SETO KAIBA! _The scream made Mokuba bury his face into his brother's duster. Kaiba protectively put one arm around his brother and glared up at the beings. _Now, listen-exactly two weeks from now we know that two of the defenders are going to be called upon to complete a certain magical task. We want you to accompany them, so report down to an abandoned warehouse by the Domino docks that day. We hope we have made ourselves clear enough. Goodbye._

The light slowly returned to an orb-like state and vanished into thin air.

Mokuba looked up at his brother. "Seto, what are you going to do? They sounded pretty serious."

Kaiba shook his head. "I don't care how serious they were, Mokuba. I'm not going to be forced into doing something that I don't want to do, and that _especially _includes working with the dork patrol and using these…powers."

* * *

_Is that so, Kaiba? Well, we'll see about that…_


	2. Chapter One: Vacation

Chapter One: Vacation

_Present…_

"And with that move, Joey, I'm afraid your life points have reached zero," Yugi said. He and Joey were sitting on the floor in Yugi's living room, with a Duel Monster game set out on the ground between them.

"Aww, man," Joey said. He slammed the cards in his hand onto the ground. "Dat's de tird time in a row…" Grumbling, he started collecting his deck.

"Joey, are you all right?" Yugi asked, picking up his cards and placing them back into his gold Egyptian box. "You've seemed a little upset ever since you got here."

"Well, of course I'm upset!" Joey yelled out. "It's vacation time, and practically everyone and deir modder's gettin' ta go somewhere fun, while we're just stuck here in de same ol' place! I mean, Tristan went off California, Téa's out dere in New York, Bakura's all de way over in England-why can't we ever get ta go someplace excitin'?"

Yugi grinned. "I think we've already got enough excitement in our lives, Joey," he laughed.

"I don't mean excitement as in 'more psychopathic freaks takin' over de world', I mean excitement as in 'fun an entertainin'! I wanna go someplace dat's warm, an wet, an where everyone just goes crazy!"

_Well, I'm not sure about the 'going crazy' part, but I think I can help you with the first two, _a voice suddenly said. Strangely enough, it sounded as though it was coming from within their heads.

Yugi and Joey looked around wildly. "Spencer?" Yugi said.

"Hey, where are ya, man?" Joey asked, getting up and peering behind an armchair.

Spencer's laugh was then heard. _Don't bother looking for me Joey; I'm still in my home world. I'm communicating with you two via my telepathy._

"Den how'd you know I was lookin' for ya?"

_That's what I just heard you think._

Joey placed both hands over his head. "Hey! Don't go readin' my toughts!" he cried.

_Oh, calm down, I was only making sure I was speaking to the right people._ There was a pause._ There, now I'm just talking to you, not reading your mind._

"Yeah? What number am I thinkin' of between one an one-thousand?" Joey asked.

_Joey! Sheesh. Anyway, I have a favor to ask of you._

"What's wrong, Spencer? Is it Resheph again?" Yugi asked.

_Nope, haven't heard from him since we took him down two weeks ago. No, this favor involves a problem going on with a particular kingdom._

"You said dat you could help me wit my problem-is dis kingdom really somewhere dat's warm an wet?" Joey asked.

_As a matter of fact, it is, Joey. _

"Sweet!" Joey said. "Go on, go on."

_The place is called the kingdom of Oceanica. Tomorrow, its princess is expected to marry the prince of the nearby kingdom of Rayne. The wedding is vital since, as the only two kingdoms in that particular area, it would be a means of a final, harmonious joining of the two into one._

"Is someone trying to interfere with the wedding?" Yugi asked.

_Maybe, maybe not; we're not exactly sure. All we know is that for the past couple of weeks, there have been increasing reports of creatures either attacking citizens when they venture outside of the kingdom or, in a few instances, attacking the kingdom itself. The king of Oceanic fears that these attacks could interfere with the wedding if not taken care of, and thus he has asked for some protection to be sent to the kingdom for the rest of today and the entire duration of tomorrow. Now as king, normally I and the rest of the Kingrah police force would go and deal with this problem ourselves, but…_

"You're busy at the moment?" Yugi said.

_Let's just say we're involved with a ritual gone really wrong and a horrendous demon infestation in a town nearby Kingrah._

"Dat must be fun ta deal wit," Joey said.

_Absolutely; a whole ton of it. But since this is occurring, the police and I can't really go to deal with anything else at the present, so…would you guys be willing to go in my stead, por favor?_

"Of course, Spencer," Yugi said.

"Anyting for ya, man," Joey agreed. "Anyting dat'll get us to somewhere more interestin', anyway."

_Thank you, thank you, _thank you, _amigos míos. Now, I'm sending a portal which will open up at a spot near the kingdom to your meeting place, so please hurry over the-HEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER! Sorry, another demon's attacking, so I gotta run-goodbye and good luck!_

Spencer's voice faded away with the last words that he sent to the two.

"Well," Joey said, "fightin' monsters in some kingdom isn't exactly de vacation I was goin' for, but it beats sittin' here all day."

"Let's get going, then,"Yugi said.

The two of them snapped their fingers, transformed into showers of blue and green sparks, and soared through the ceiling of the room and all the way up to the roof, where they turned and sailed off towards the docks.


	3. Chapter Two: Down and Under

Chapter Two: Down and Under

When Yugi and Joey arrived at the abandoned warehouse, they found that on the far side of the place was a custom-portal box that had already been activated. In the center of the shining circle the box had formed was the wavy image of a beach with sandy dunes and a bright, blue ocean underneath a clear sky.

"Awright! De beach!" Joey cried, pumping his fist into the air. "Surf an sand, here we come!" He dashed towards the portal.

Before he could step inside, however, a voice suddenly said, _Hold on one moment._

Yugi and Joey turned around to find that another portal-like opening had formed behind them. This one, however, was glowing so brightly that almost nothing could be made out beyond it, save for three shadowy beings that the two recognized.

"Wait a second…aren't you the ones who gave us our powers?" Yugi cried. Joey couldn't speak; he stood with one foot in the air, about to step through the portal, with his jaw dropped.

_Correct, Yugi. We've been watching you, and thus far we are quite impressed with the feats that everyone in your group has been able to pull off. _

Joey finally snapped out of his shock; he put his foot down and replied, blushing, "Well, it's been notin', really."

"What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.

_Well, we might as well tell you-there's someone else who has been granted your abilities as well. This time, however, it has been by accident, not by our own doing._

Both Yugi and Joey stared. "There's another one of us?" Yugi cried.

"Just how many of us can dere be?" Joey said.

_Well, we think thus far that this one will be the last. Now, two weeks ago we asked him to come here and assist you two with your latest mission, but as we expected, he hasn't come, has he?_

Yugi shook his head. "There's no one here but us."

_Sigh…wait a moment, please._

The light shrank down into an orb and soared up through the roof.

* * *

Seto Kaiba was sitting in his office at Kaiba Corp, signing a couple of documents at his desk. As he was about to finish with the last one, he heard an "Ahem!" behind him. He didn't even need to turn around to know that the three shadowy beings had reappeared in their portal of light.

_What are you doing here?_ one of them said, clearly annoyed.

"Working," Kaiba replied without turning around.

_Kaiba, didn't we tell you that you had to be at the abandoned warehouse by the docks today?_

"Yes," Kaiba simply said.

_Then why are you still here?_

Kaiba placed his pen down onto his desk and spun around in his chair to face the three beings. "I've already told you that I am not going to get involved with this insanity, nor am I going to work with the dork patrol, and you cannot force me to do so," he said.

_You flat out refuse._

"Yes."

_And there's absolutely nothing we could do to convince you otherwise._

"Correct."

_Ah. In that case…_

One of the shadowy beings lifted his hand up. Before Kaiba could react, he was suddenly transformed into thousands of white sparks that the being pulled into the light-filled portal. Once all of the sparks had come through, the portal returned to an orb-like state and soared back towards the docks.

* * *

Yugi and Joey watched as the orb reappeared through the roof of the warehouse and floated down a few feet away from them. The orb transformed back into a light-filled portal with the shadowy beings in its center.

One of the beings threw a shower of white sparks out of the portal. Before the sparks landed on the ground, the being snapped his finger and the sparks suddenly transformed into a teenage kid with dark brown hair and cold blue eyes wearing a blue duster, light green shirt and pants, and brown shoes. The kid slammed face first onto the ground.

"Kaiba!" Yugi cried in astonishment.

"Uh…is dis some kind of a joke?" Joey asked the beings.

_No, it is not. _

Kaiba slowly got to his feet and looked at Yugi and Joey. "Oh, great," he muttered.

_Kaiba,_ one of the beings said, _would you like to tell them what happened, or do we have to make you do that too?_

He looked back and glared at the beings. "You realize what you just did could get you arrested, don't?"

_You can go to the police. Feel free to tell them how you were wrongfully kidnapped by three beings in a portal that transformed you and magically transported you to a warehouse on the other side of town._

Joey covered his mouth, trying to hide a snicker.

_Now tell them what happened, please._

Angrily, Kaiba turned and looked back at Yugi and Joey. "Thanks to your last battle with those four freaks, I got hit by some orb which gave me your…powers."

Yugi gasped. "You got hit by Resheph's spell?" he cried.

"Dat's sometin' I'd hafta see ta believe," Joey said, folding his arms.

_He'll show you…won't you, Kaiba?_

Kaiba angrily turned around and said, "I told you, I WILL NOT USE THOSE POWERS!"

Suddenly, he felt a strange warmth pass through his body. He looked down and saw to his horror that his outline had started glowing with white magic again, and white sparks were shooting out of his fingers.

"HOLY-" Joey yelled from behind him.

_Shame you haven't used them yet, Kaiba. Then you might have known that they're connected to your emotions. They especially like to come out when one is angry._

Kaiba clenched his fists. "How dare you…" he snarled at the beings.

_If you had come when we had asked you to, then we wouldn't have had to trick you. Now then, are you going to step through the portal now?_

"NO!" he yelled, the white glow intensifying.

_My, you are stubborn, aren't you? Yugi, Joey, would you two please step through the portal?_

Yugi and Joey both turned and walked through the wavy image of the beach.

_Now, Kaiba, are you going to follow them or not?_

"Haven't I already made myself clear enough?"

_Fine._

The being raised his hand again. Kaiba was suddenly lifted up into the air and thrown through the portal, landing face down in the sand. Before he could even get up, the portal shrank and vanished into thin air.

Kaiba lifted his head up and spat out sand from his mouth. "Disgusting!" he yelled out.

"Kaiba, are you O.K.?" Yugi asked, kneeling down beside him and reaching out a hand to help him up.

Kaiba slapped the hand away. "I'm fine, and I can take care of myself." He got to his feet and brushed the sand off of his clothes. He then looked around. "Where are we?" he asked, seeing that they were standing on an unfamiliar beach.

"We're in the Dimension of the Gods," Yugi said. "That's the world where Spencer and those other four come from."

Kaiba glared down at him. "You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"You'd better, Kaiba, 'cause it's de truth," Joey cried.

"Of course you would believe it," Kaiba said. "Your weak mentality would let you believe anything."

"WHY YOU LIDDLE-" Joey yelled, clenching his hands into fists.

"Hey, wait a minute," Yugi said.

The other two turned and saw that Yugi was looking up at a large, rocky wall behind them. He glanced around the area and asked, "Spencer said that portal would be near the kingdom, but…where is it?"

"What kingdom?" Kaiba said. "There's nothing here but sand, rock, and water!"

"Uh, guys?" Joey said. "I don't tink dat's all dere is…"

The other two looked and saw that Joey was staring at a small circle of watery bubbles had formed a little bit off into the ocean. The circle of bubbles slowly grew larger and larger until finally a creature burst out of the water. It looked like a giant black squid with two throbbing red eyes and long, sticky black tentacles that thrashed around wildly.

"WHAT THE-" Kaiba yelled.

Before he could finish, three tentacles suddenly reached out towards the beach and wrapped themselves tightly around the three teens. The creature then pulled them back towards it and sank back down under the water, yanking them down along with it.

* * *

Kaiba shut his eyes and held his breath only seconds before he felt the warm water surround him. Once he opened his eyes, he saw that Yugi was desperately firing blue rays out at the creature, and Joey was following him up with green rays. However, the creature only tightened its grasp, squeezing whatever air was left in their lungs right out of them. After a few minutes, the two finally passed out and slouched forward, their bodies going limp.

_Wonderful, _Kaiba thought as he too felt like his lungs were going to burst. _We're all going to drown!_

_Kaiba! _He suddenly heard the angry voice of the being in the light within his mind. _You know what you have to do, and you can either do so, or have the death of both yourself and two of your world's defenders on your head. It's your choice._

Kaiba stared off into the watery distance in horror for a moment. Finally, he winced in anger and thought, _Why me?_

_Here's a spell that you can use, _the voice said, and an incantation suddenly popped into his head. _Repeat it NOW!_

Kaiba focused on the power within him and slowly felt the warmth spread throughout his being. He held out his hands, now sparking with furious white magic, and thought,

_Save us from the inevitable death that could be,_

_Allow us to be like creatures of the sea!_

As he thought the last words, he finally passed out as well, with two sparks of light shooting out of his hands and directly into Yugi and Joey. Once the creature had felt all of them go limp in its grasp, it let them go from its grasp and swam far away into the distance.

The three sank down to the ocean floor; as they did, the white light of Kaiba's spell slowly engulfed all three of them…


	4. Chapter Three: Mermen

Chapter Three: Mermen

Yugi slowly opened his eyes. He stared down at the sandy floor which he was lying on, with some coral and seaweed a little off in the distance. Around him, all he could feel was warm, blue water that gently ran over his body and soaked through his hair.

_Wha…? What happened?_

He faintly recalled that some creature had pulled him, Joey, and Kaiba into the water, and he'd tried to get the thing, whatever it was, to release them, but…

_How can I still be alive? _he suddenly realized. _And…_He felt something strange about his lower body. _Why do my legs feel so funny?_

He slowly turned around onto his back-and sat up with a jolt.

His Millennium Puzzle was still around his neck, but the rest of his clothing had vanished. Below his navel, his legs were gone, replaced with what looked like the blue, scaly tale of a fish.

_What…the…_he thought in horror. Slowly, he lifted up the tail and slapped it back onto the ground, as if to make sure that it was really his. He then took a deep breath and found that he could do so quite easily.

_I'm a…mermaid?_

He suddenly heard a loud scream from a little bit in the distance. Slowly, he turned himself back onto his stomach and pushed himself gently up into the water. After a few flaps of his new tail, he managed to get a small grasp on how to swim with it. He turned around and swam in the direction of the scream.

A little bit away, he found Joey also sitting on the ground, his eyes staring down at himself in absolute horror. His clothing had also vanished, and his legs were also replaced with a scaly tail, this one green.

Joey looked up and saw Yugi floating a little above him. "Yug?" he said, his voice shaking with fright. "Please tell me dat I'm hallucinatin', and dat dere's not really a fish tail dere."

"Sorry, Joey," Yugi said sheepishly.

"Oh man…how de heck did dis happen?" Joey said, slowly flapping his tail up and down. "You didn't cast some spell before we passed out, didja?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, I know dat I didn't, so…" Joey paused. A look of realization and glee overtook his face. He turned around and pushed himself up onto the water. With a few flaps of his tail, he started swimming around the ocean floor, as though he were looking for something.

Finally, he cried out "A-ha!" and swam off towards something. Yugi followed behind him.

On the ocean floor, the two found Kaiba, still lying down on his back and out cold. Aside from a locket made to look like a Duel Monster card around his neck, his clothing was gone as well, and his legs had been replaced with a white mermaid tail.

Joey grinned and leaned down close towards Kaiba's ear. "Oh Kaiba, wake up…" he said in a sing-song voice.

Kaiba slowly opened his eyes. "Wha…" he said. He looked up and saw Yugi and Joey hovering above him. "Oh, great." he muttered. "It wasn't just a dre-"

His eyes then fell onto his tail. He bolted upwards in horror. "WHAT THE-" he screamed.

"Kaiba, did you do this?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba stared up at him. Finally, he got himself floating up on the water and turned so that only his back faced the other two. "I did what I had to do," was all that he said.

"Well, thank you," Yugi said. "I know it must have been hard for you."

"Humph," Kaiba replied. "It won't happen again."

"Of course it won't," Joey said, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, a little bit off into the distance, the three heard another scream, this one feminine.

"What's that?" Yugi asked, swimming off in the direction of the scream with Joey and Kaiba not far behind him.

Finally, the three found that in a small clearing amongst the seaweed and coral were two eel-like creatures which, like the creature that had pulled them under, were black with large red eyes. The creatures swam in a circle around a terrified teenage mermaid with long, red hair that sat on the ground with her hands over her head. She was wearing a pink bikini-like top made of seashells, and her pink tail flapped wildly at the creatures. Perched on her head was a tiara made of white coral.

She held out her hand and blasted a ray of pink magic at one of the creatures, but the magic only singed it a little. The angry creature now turned and faced the mermaid directly, its mouth open and baring large, sharp fangs, and its partner followed suit. The mermaid screamed and shut her eyes tightly.

Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed and the Pharaoh took over for him. Right when the eels charged out at the mermaid, a force field formed around her that the two slammed directly into. They sank down onto the ground.

The girl opened her eyes and stared at the dazed eels that lied before her. She looked up at the other three and said, "Did you save me?"

The Pharaoh nodded and swam over to her, helping her back up to floating on the water. "Are you all right, Miss?"

"Yes, thank you," she smiled. "Your power…are you the ones the king sent to protect the kingdom?"

The Pharaoh stared. "You know about the kingdom?"

The mermaid giggled. "Of course I know! I'm its princess."

The other three stared. "You?" Joey said.

She smiled and bowed. "Princess Angela, of the kingdom of Oceanica, at your service, my saviors." She looked back up and noticed the stunned looks on the three's faces. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

The Pharaoh quickly shook the shock out of his head. "No, not at all, Princess," he said.

"Please, just call me Angie," the mermaid laughed. "While you are here, you are not my servants; you are my honored guests." She turned and started swimming away, calling over her shoulder, "C'mon! I'll take you to my castle!"

The other three stared after her. "Ya know, Spencer," Joey said, looking upwards "you might ave told us dat dis kingdom was underwater…and dat it was full a mermaids!"

"Come now," the Pharaoh said, "let's go fulfill our task."

The Pharaoh and Joey started following the mermaid. Kaiba stayed where he was for a moment, staring down at his hands. _I can't believe I did that…_he thought.

Finally, he breathed out, "Unbelievable…"

Suddenly, he heard Joey's voice call, "Yo, Kaiba! C'mon!"

He remained where he was for a moment, and then started swimming off after the other two.


	5. Chapter Four: King and his Court

Chapter Four: King and his Court

The four merpeople swam on throughout the ocean until they finally came upon a large, beautiful underwater town. The homes were made entirely of different stones, corals, and the occasional seashell décor, with different merpeople swimming all over the place, some of whom were taking what was apparently their pet fish on a seaweed leash for a swim. In the center of the town was a magnificent castle of gold and white coral and seashells. On either side of the entrance floated two mermen guards wearing stone helmets, using silver tridents to bar the entryway.

The princess floated up to the guards and pointed at the other three. "These young men have been sent by King Spencer to protect our kingdom for the time being. Please allow them to pass."

The guards moved their silver tridents upwards, allowing for Princess Angie and the others to float through.

The four found themselves inside of a large throne room. Colorful tapestry woven with seaweed hung from the ceiling, and a long, red coral carpet led all the way up to a huge silver oyster which doubled as a throne. On the throne sat an older merman with a silver tail that had long, grey hair and a full grey beard. A gold crown sat on his head, and in his right hand, he held a golden trident.

"Daddy?" the princess said, floating up to him. "The king's representatives have arrived."

The king looked down at the other three with piercing grey eyes. "Hmm…rather young for defenders, are they not?"

"Hey, we might be young, but we can still fight!" Joey yelled.

"Wheeler, can't you keep your mouth shut for just once?" Kaiba asked, folding his arms.

"I know we're rather young for defenders, your highness," the Pharaoh said, "but we do have much experience with battle."

Princess Angie added, "Daddy, they saved me from some more of those creatures when I was swimming out to greet them."

The king's eyes widened. "Is that so?" He stroked his chin. "I'm still not sure…"

"Come now, King Nepseidon," a new voice suddenly said. "These children have already proven themselves enough, haven't they?"

From behind the throne came another, different kind of sea creature. While he, too, looked similar to a merperson, he was different in that instead of being half-fish, he looked more like half-shark. His skin and tail were a slick, shiny grey color, with fins sticking out of his arms and back. His hair was long and dark, his eyes were black and a bit beady, and when he grinned, he revealed a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

"Jet, you honestly believe these children can protect our kingdom from the creatures already?" King Nepseidon asked.

"Well, they've already protected your precious princess once against those nasty sea creatures, haven't they?" Jet replied. "And to me, that should be quite enough to prove one's worth." He swam directly up to the Pharaoh, staring at him with a strange, vacant gaze. "Won't that be right, young man?"

"Um…yes, of course," the Pharaoh said, a bit perturbed by Jet's strange look.

"Hmmph," the king said, "well, I suppose that they'll do. Marlin!"

Another merman swam up from behind him, this one with spiky brown hair and a sea-green tail. "Yes, your highness?" the merman said.

"Please show these three young men up to the guest room," Nepseidon ordered him, "and then take them down to the banquet hall so they too can enjoy the feast for the eve of the wedding."

"Feast?" Joey said excitedly. "I'm dere!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and muttered, "How can you be a defender when one could easily beat you by sticking food under your nose?"

The three heroes and the princess followed the young merman through the castle towards the guest room. As they swam, the Pharaoh asked Angie, "Who exactly was that Jet?"

"He's my daddy's top advisor," Angie replied. "When he was young the man was abandoned at the entrance to the castle because of his…interesting appearance. The former advisor took him in as an apprentice and trained him, and now my father trusts him with every one of his major decisions." As she spoke, the princess became a little bit uneasy, and her voice wavered a little.

"Angie, forgive me if this question is impertinent, but do you trust him?" the Pharaoh asked.

"I…" the Princess paused, trying to find the right words. "I'm not entirely sure...Daddy believes that he's completely trustworthy, but…" She looked down. "Our last advisor died under rather…mysterious circumstances, and Jet was the one who was closest enough to him to bring about those circumstances…" She shook her head and smiled. "But perhaps I'm being too paranoid. And anyway, I shouldn't dwell on such thoughts the night before my wedding!"

At that moment, the merpeople arrived at the guest room. The room was rather small, with three beds made of blue seaweed and one large, open window which revealed fishes swimming around outside.

"Uhh…how does one sleep on dese tings?" Joey said, sitting down on a bed and squirming around a little on it.

The princess giggled. "By lying down, silly," she said.

"Ah, of course," Joey said, rolling his eyes.

"Princess?" the servant Marlin said, bowing. "I have set out your evening gown on your bed, and your coral jewelry is on your dresser."

"Oh, thank you, Marlin!" Angie cried. "You're such a lifesaver! I should go get ready! See you later, defenders!" The princess quickly swam out of the room.

"Now that you have seen the guest room, I will guide you down to the banquet hall, so if you will follow me, please," Marlin said to the three heroes.

The three swam after him and down to a large room with a long stone table that extended from one side to the other. All along the table sat different kinds of merpeople with tails in almost every color, with the king sitting at the head of it.

Joey stared at the table's various foods. "Uh…what de heck are dose tings?" he asked, pointing at long, black, worm-like things.

"Those are sea cucumbers, sir," Marlin replied. "Once you get past their skeleton, they can be quite chewy inside."

"Uhh…all of a sudden, I'm not hungry." Joey said, clutching at his stomach.

"My god, it's a miracle," Kaiba muttered.

Suddenly, on the right side of the room, two large doors made of coral opened. A fanfare resounded throughout the banquet hall, and two beautiful white dolphins floated in, letting their laughter flow. Right behind them was a very handsome, muscular merman with long, blonde hair, seaweed green eyes, and a silver and gold tail. A golden crown was perched on his head.

"Ah, Prince Correl! You have arrived!" the king said, floating out of his seat and up to the prince. "I apologize; I had intended for my advisor Jet to guide you to the banquet hall, but he appears to have vanished. I do hope you didn't have a hard time finding the place."

"Not at all, not at all," Prince Correl said, brushing the apology away. "Now, where is my princess?"

"I'm here, I'm here!" came a voice from the left side of the banquet hall. The two doors on that side opened, and out came Princess Angie, now dressed in a flowing pink evening gown that ended right above her tail. She floated over the table and up to her fiancé. "Hello, my prince."

"Hello, my princess," Prince Correl replied. He suddenly took her in his arms and brought her into a swooning kiss.

"Well, the prince certainly doesn't like to wait, does he?" the Pharaoh commented.

"No, he doesn't," Marlin replied, sounding a little annoyed. The Pharaoh turned and saw that he was glaring at the prince and princess as the two kissed. _Hmm…_the Pharaoh thought. _I wonder why he seems so angry…_

As the prince and princess ended their kiss, Angie giggled and said, "Oh, Correl, you're so sweet!"

"Thank you, my dear," Prince Correl said. "Now come, let's eat."

As they started floating towards their seats, however, the princess suddenly sank down onto the ground and started breathing heavily.

"Angie, are you all right?" the king asked his daughter, his eyes filling with concern.

"Yes…yes, I'm fine," she said, taking her prince's arm and using it to pull herself back up. "I just felt a little tired for a moment, that's all."

"You're probably just too excited about the wedding," the prince hurriedly said. "Come now, sit down and relax a little." He quickly guided her down towards a seat and had her sit down.

The Pharaoh stared at the prince. _Odd…you'd think he'd be a little more concerned about his future bride…_

"Hmm…" he whispered to himself. "Something tells me that an eye should be kept on that prince…"


	6. Chapter Five: Usurper

Chapter Five: Usurper

The Pharaoh awoke on his bed of seaweed in the early hours of the morning. On his left, Joey was snoring away and occasionally muttering something like "Pass me a piece of dat ham…no, not dat one, de bigger one…" on his right, however, the bed was empty.

The Pharaoh sat up and saw the Kaiba was staring intently out of the room's window at something. He floated up and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Kaiba pointed out in the distance to a merman who was swimming away from the town, with two white dolphins following after him. The merman was looking all around him as he swam, as if to make sure that nobody else was watching. With his blonde hair and gold and silver tail, the Pharaoh immediately recognized him as Prince Correl.

"Now where exactly would he be going on the morning of his wedding?" Kaiba asked.

The Pharaoh could sense something was afoot. He murmured, "I don't know, but I think we should find out."

He floated down to Joey and gently shook his shoulders. "Joey, wake up."

"Mmm…banana splits…gimme de one dat's smothered wit hot fudge…"

Kaiba floated down to the other side of the bed and whispered into his ear, "Nice assortment, Wheeler. I think I'll have a little bit of it."

Joey bolted upwards in bed and yelled, "OVER MY DEAD BODY, YOU-" Then he stopped and looked around. "Aw, man…right when I was about ta have dessert…"

"You can eat it in your next dream. Let's go," Kaiba said.

The three of them floated out the window and swam after Prince Correl, trying to stay as close to him as possible.

* * *

Eventually, Prince Correl arrived at a large boulder which stood in front of an underwater stone wall. The three heroes watched as Prince Correl moved the boulder over, revealing the entrance to a small tunnel. He floated inside, with the white dolphins not far behind him.

The Pharaoh and Joey snapped their fingers, transforming into showers of blue and green sparks, and slowly floated up towards the hole. Kaiba watched after them for a moment, then reluctantly snapped his fingers as well, transforming into a shower of white sparks which floated after the other two.

At the end of the tunnel, the sparks came upon a small, stone-walled room. There was only one piece of furniture in the place: a vanity with a cracked mirror. Smiling, Prince Correl floated up to the mirror. The reflection within it, however, was not his.

It was Jet.

"Ah, true form of mine," Prince Correl/Jet laughed evilly. "Today is the day when you shall finally be royalty without having to shift into the form of this 'prince', all thanks to her majesty Princess Angie."

The dolphins floated up next to him. In the mirror, they were revealed to be the two eel-like creatures that had been attacking Princess Angie yesterday. One of the dolphins turned to him and let out another laugh.

Prince Correl/Jet turned to it and said, "You won't need to be in this atrocious form for much longer now, my pet. Just one last kiss at the wedding and the throne will be mine. And you and the rest of my creatures, my most precious pets, shall be my ever powerful guards of the castle."

Laughing, Prince Correl/Jet started to turn away from the mirror. However, something caught his eye, and he quickly looked back.

In the mirror, the Pharaoh, Joey, and Kaiba were revealed in their true forms, floating in the entryway of the room.

Before they could react, Prince Correl/Jet angrily whipped around and shot midnight-blue sparks out of his fingers. The sparks completely engulfed the three showers, bringing them into a corner of the room. Prince Correl/Jet snapped his fingers, and the midnight-black sparks rearranged themselves into a large cage which apparently had an invisible barrier that prevented the water from coming in. The other three showers suddenly glowed and reverted themselves into three shocked, completely human teens that sat sprawled out on the cage's floor.

"Well, well, well," Prince Correl/Jet grinned nastily. "You three are in a bit of a predicament now, aren't you?"

"Hey, how'd you turn us back to our true selves?" Joey cried.

"The cage, you fool, is a barrier for all sorts of pure magic. You can't hide in mermaid or pure magic forms from me now."

"What have you been doing to the princess?!" the Pharaoh yelled at him.

"Hmm, you heard about that, didn't you? Well, I might as well tell you, since you won't be around to blab to anyone else." Prince Correl began floating back and forth across the small room. "You recall yesterday how the princess became weak right after I gave her that kiss? That was because with every kiss that I give her, I'm slowly sucking away every last bit of her magical power. She and the king have no idea, of course, because they fully and completely trust the supposed prince of the kingdom of Rayne…" he floated back up to the mirror and grinned at his truthful reflection. "…but they'll soon realize it when she's finally gone after our last, most deep and passionate kiss at her wedding. Granted, then it'll be too late for them to do anything about it, but," Prince Correl/Jet shrugged, "that's what you get for being a trusting idiot."

"You won't get away wit dis!" Joey yelled.

"I already have, you foolish human," Prince Correl/Jet sneered. "And in case you three even consider doing something funny…"

Prince Correl/Jet waved his hands and a small, clear glass case appeared on the floor of the cage. Another wave and the case became filled with what appeared to be a ball of crackling electricity. One final wave, and suddenly the cage began to slowly fill up with water.

"You should be gone once that cage is full, but if not, then the electricity should be enough to do you in. I'd stay around to watch, but I have a wedding I must get to, so goodbye, defenders. We shall never meet again."

With those final words, Prince Correl/Jet and his pets floated out of the room, letting out loud laughs the entire way.


	7. Chapter Six: We Object

Chapter Six: We Object

Once Prince Correl/Jet was gone, the Pharaoh and Joey immediately started trying to break the cage down. The Pharaoh formed a force field which he attempted to use to burst the cage open, but no matter how hard he pushed at the cage, it continued to hold. Joey attempted to use muscle-enhanced arms to shove the bars of the cage down, but he couldn't even bend them a little bit.

The water continued rushing into the cage at a faster and faster rate, now reaching all the way up to their waists.

"Don't you two have anything else you can use to smash this thing?" Kaiba yelled.

"Don't you?!" Joey retorted.

"Hmmph," Kaiba said. "And you two call yourself heroes."

"SHUT UP, YOU SPOILED-"

"STOP IT!" the Pharaoh yelled at the two. "Right now we cannot afford to argue; we must find a way to get out of here before the wedding ends!"

* * *

Princess Angie was sitting at the vanity in her bedroom, brushing her red hair. She'd put on her long white dress along, a necklace made of cowries, and a flowing white veil.

"My princess…" a voice called from the hallway. Princess Angie turned in her seat towards the door and watched as the door opened. Prince Correl floated into the room.

"Correl!" Angie cried. "Don't you know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride right before the wedding?"

"My apologies, my love, but I must tell you this: the defenders sent by King Spencer needed to return home."

"What? But why?"

"They had to go and take care of something more important, apparently. Something about an infestation in some town or another."

"But what about the wedding?"

"Oh, I don't think we'll have to worry about that," Prince Correl said, taking her hand. "Somehow, I think that the wedding is most definitely going to go quite smoothly."

Unbeknownst to both of them, Marlin had been listening outside of Angie's room throughout their entire conversation. Now he murmured angrily to himself, "Infestation my dorsal fin," and he quickly swam away.

* * *

Back in the stony room, the water was coming up to the heroes' shoulders; however, its added buoyancy allowed for them to clutch at the top of the cage in an attempt to keep their heads in an airy area.

"Oh man," Joey cried, "we can't just die like dis! We've gotta do someting!"

"We've tried everything…" the Pharaoh said. "What else can we do?"

Kaiba shut his eyes. "I have a company to run…a brother to take care of…and millions of yen which I don't want in someone else's sweaty hands…"

As he spoke, the electric orb appeared to shake inside of its glass case.

Finally, he opened his eyes, now filled with a look of determination. "And I won't let it all go just because of some fishy freak!"

At his last words, the case around the orb suddenly shattered. Instead of spreading all around the water, however, the electricity transformed into jagged lightning bolts which shot up and suddenly absorbed themselves into Kaiba's body. The Pharaoh and Joey watched with shock as Kaiba let electricity mixed in with some white sparks of magic shoot out of his hands and completely engulf the cage until the bars of it finally melted and collapsed onto the ground. Once the cage had vanished, the three glowed with white light and returned to their mermen forms.

Joey stared at Kaiba. "What de heck did you just do?" he asked.

Kaiba didn't answer; he just stared down at his hands, still crackling with electricity.

Finally, the Pharaoh said, "I believe, Joey, that Kaiba just made use of his special ability."

"Electricity controllin'," Joey said. "Geez, it's like that power was created just for ya."

"Come now," the Pharaoh said, swimming back towards the entrance. "We must get back to the castle and stop that wedding!"

The three swam out of the room and all the way back through the tunnel. Once they reached the exit, however, they suddenly had to stop.

Sitting only a few feet away from the exit was the squid-like and eel-like creatures from before.

"Aw, man, not you guys again!" Joey yelled in exasperation.

However, right when the squid was about to send its tentacles flying towards them and the eels were about to bare their teeth, a ray of sea-green magic was suddenly shot right into each one of the creatures' red eyes. The squid started swimming around like crazy, with one of its tentacles covering up the injured eye, and the eels swam around in a desperate attempt to avoid the squid. With the creatures distracted, the Pharaoh and Joey finally had a chance to fire at them with rays of blue and green magic. The squid and eels shook for a moment as they were engulfed in blue and green light, then transformed into clouds of midnight-black smoke and vanished.

"Nice job," a voice called out.

The three heroes turned and saw that Marlin was swimming up to them, his hands glowing with sea-green magic. "You just gotta remember to always hit their eyes first; that's their most vulnerable spot," he said.

"Marlin, wasn't it?" the Pharaoh said. "We must return to the castle; the Prince Correl that she's going to marry isn't the real prince!"

Marlin nodded. "I already knew that."

The other three stared at him. "How?" Joey asked.

Marlin grinned. "I'm Prince Correl."

The heroes were shocked. "Wait a sec-if you're de prince, den why are you workin' for the king and princess?" Joey asked.

"I did so out of necessity," Marlin replied. "That merman, whoever he is, ambushed me and my bodyguards when we were heading towards the castle, proclaiming that _he _was the only one that was going to be marrying Princess Angie." He looked down. "He destroyed my men and left me for death, taking my crown as proof of his royalty, but my powers are strong; I managed to use them to heal me. Since then I've gone to the castle and taken up a job as the servant so I could keep an eye on the princess in case that fake attempted to do something." He looked back in the direction of the castle. "He'd better not-Angie is one of the most beautiful and kind mermaids that I've ever met…I'd be honored to be her husband…"

"Ahem!" Kaiba said. "Shouldn't we be saving her at this moment, not just thinking about her?"

Marlin quickly got his head out of the clouds and nodded at the heroes. "Right; let's go."

The four started swimming hurriedly in the direction of the castle.

"Do you, Prince Correl, take this young mermaid to be your lawfully wedded wife…"

* * *

The wedding was taking place inside of the large throne room. Stone benches had been lined up on either side of the red carpet, and most of them were filled with other members of the Oceanica royal family, their friends, and the residents of the town. Prince Correl/Jet and Princess Angie stood in front of the throne, holding each other's hands and gazing deeply into each other's eyes, while a bishop merman wearing a mitre conducted the ceremony.

"…to love and to cherish till death do you part?"

"I do," Prince Correl/Jet said. _Especially since that should be a matter of, oh, two minutes or so._

"And do you, Princess Angie, take this young merman to be your lawfully wedded husband…"

Angie was extremely excited, yet she felt some sort of strange, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. _It must just be the wedding jitters,_ she tried to tell herself, but she just wasn't sure…

"…to love and to cherish till death do you part?"

"I do," Angie hurriedly said. The sinking feeling suddenly became worse. _Why do I feel so afraid…something must be wrong…_

"If anyone among us knows a reason that this merman and this mermaid should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Suddenly, the back doors to the throne room slammed open, and a voice cried out, "We object!"

Everyone turned to see the Pharaoh, Joey, Kaiba, and Marlin floating into the place.

"WHAT?!" Prince Correl/Jet screamed out in horror. "HOW DID YOU THREE ESCAPE?!"

Princess Angie turned and faced him with an angry glare. "What do you mean, 'escape'?" she asked him.

"He means 'escape' as in he trapped us, Angie," the Pharaoh said. "That man is not the real Prince Correl; he tricked you and your father so that he could take over the throne."

The people on the benches started whispering to each other in shock and horror. King Nepseidon, who was sitting in the very front, got up and said to Prince Correl/Jet, "Is this true?"

Realizing his game was up, Prince Correl/Jet grabbed the princess and forced her into kissing him. At first she struggled to get away, but as he absorbed more and more of her power, she slowly grew weaker and weaker, and her body started to go limp.

However, the Pharaoh quickly held up his hand and created a force field that separated the unconscious Angie from Prince Correl/Jet. He then shot a ray of blue magic out at Prince Correl, which enveloped him in its light and returned him to his true form.

"JET!" King Nepseidon yelled out. "How dare you harm my daughter!" He picked up his golden trident and pointed it directly at the half-shark.

Jet held up one hand. A midnight-blue ray of magic, this one larger and more powerful than the one that had fired at the heroes, shot out and struck the king directly in the chest. The king screamed as the light enveloped him; when it faded, it revealed the king had been transformed into a mere sea urchin.

Jet zoomed over to the gold trident and picked it up. In his hands, the trident turned the color of midnight-blue. Holding up the trident, he turned to the crowd of merpeople and said, "Hear this, residents of Oceanica-as of now, I am your king!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" the Pharaoh cried out. He fired a beam of blue light out at Jet. In retaliation, Jet aimed the trident at the heroes, and a ray of midnight-blue magic shot out. The two beams of magic struck each other head on and started shoving each other back and forth.

Jet grinned. "Foolish human-you honestly think you can stop me now?!"

"Perhaps not alone," the Pharaoh admitted, "but…"

Joey held up his hand as well, and a ray of green magic joined the blue one. The battle of the magic started going in favor of the heroes, but Jet was still holding up with his own beam.

"This resistance is futile, you stupid humans," Jet grunted. "I have more power than you could ever imagine! The kingdom of Oceanica is now my oyster!"

"Oh, shut up."

To the Pharaoh and Joey's surprise, a ray of lightning mixed with white magic joined the blue and green, giving it just the amount of power needed. The heroes' magic overtook Jet's and went soaring all the way into his chest. Jet screamed as the magic and lightning struck and enveloped him within their glow.

Finally, when the light faded, Jet too had vanished into black smoke. Pink magic came out of the smoke and floated back into Princess Angie. She woke up and started laughing with delight as her strength and power returned. The trident, too, returned to its master, and with a glow of golden light, both of them returned to their true forms.

King Nepseidon stood up and floated over to the three heroes. "Defenders, I apologize for having doubted your power," he said. "You have saved me, my daughter, and the entirety of my kingdom from falling under the reign of that terrible usurper, and for that, we owe you our deepest thanks."

Princess Angie floated up to them as well. "I, too, thank you for saving us," she smiled. "I do worry, though, about what happened to the real Prince Correl…"

"You have no need to worry, Angie," the Pharaoh replied. "He is already here."

Angie stared at him. "He is? Where?"

Marlin then floated up to her. "My princess, I am the real Prince Correl. I apologize for the deception, but I felt that I could not reveal myself until I proved that the other prince was a fraud. I do hope that you will forgive me and accept me as your husband." He delicately took her hand and kissed it.

Angie only stared at him in shock for a moment; then, she smiled and said, "I will, on one condition."

"Oh?" he said, looking up at her in surprise.

"Is it all right if I continue calling you Marlin? Correl will keep reminding me of that evil brute Jet."

Marlin laughed. "Of course, my Angie."

He then drew her into a truly passionate (and without evil intentions) swooning kiss, and the crowd of merpeople cheered.


	8. Epilogue: The Latest Member

Epilogue: The Latest Member

After the wedding ceremony had been conducted between the newly dubbed Prince Marlin and Princess Angie, the Pharaoh, Joey, and Kaiba knew that it was time to return home. The newlyweds met them right outside of the town.

"On behalf of the merpeople of Oceanica, I thank you for not only fulfilling your duty of protecting my kingdom, but for also saving it from a terrible fate that I do not wish to imagine," Princess Angie said.

"I thank you as well," Prince Marlin added, "for allowing our two kingdoms to finally unite as one. We must now travel back to my kingdom and tell my people the news, and I can assure you, your bravery and power will be known by every single merman and mermaid within it."

The Pharaoh smiled and replied, "Thank you for your kindness. Now that we have completed our task, we must be off, too."

"See ya later, prince and princess," Joey said, swimming away. The Pharaoh and Kaiba followed after him, with the newlyweds sending them off with goodbye waves.

* * *

Once the three heroes arrived back at the beach, the Pharaoh raised his hands, let them shine with blue light, and murmured,

_Our task within the ocean deep is now complete,_

_Return us to our land-walker forms with legs and feet._

Rays of blue light shot out and engulfed all three of them. The glowing figures slowly made their way out of the water and back onto the sandy shore, where the portal to their home world had returned. Once the light faded, it revealed the three had returned to their normal teenager forms, clothing and all. The Pharaoh had also returned to the Millennium Puzzle, allowing Yugi to take over once more. After they had rung the water out of their clothes and hair, the three stepped into the portal, which disappeared as soon as all they had come through.

"Okay, after all a dat, I've come to a decision," Joey said, stretching and letting out a yawn. "For de rest of dis vacation, I wanna stay at home and just sit around and do absolutely, and I mean _absolutely,_ notin'."

Yugi laughed. "Your desire to go somewhere warm and wet is gone, huh?"

"_Long _gone." Joey said. "I'm happy to just be lazy and completely mindless."

"In other words, you're returning to your normal state of being," Kaiba said, grinning nastily.

Joey turned and glared at him. "Yeah, well, at least I'm actin' 'normal'," he retorted. "Why de heck did you suddenly decide ta use your powers?"

Kaiba shrugged. "I just did what I had to do."

"So, Kaiba," Yugi asked. "Does this mean you're going to join our group?"

Kaiba had started walking towards the door of the warehouse. He now said over his shoulder, "I actually feel that I should do so."

"HUH?" Joey cried out. "What possessed ya ta do dat?" He suddenly grinned. "Ya don't tink dat magic and stuff is insanity after all, do ya? You wanna be a part of it!"

Kaiba stopped right in front of the door. "No, it's still insane," he said. "But if our world is honestly being defended by people who couldn't get out of trouble without my help _three times_, then it's either I join or this place is doomed." With that, he opened the door and said one last remark, "See you when the next villain attacks," before he left.

Joey glared after him. "He tinks widdout him de world is doomed?!" he cried. "Man, I can't stand dat self-centered jerk!"

"He did do pretty well with his powers when he chose to use them, though, Joey," Yugi commented. "I think no matter what he acts like, in the long run, he should be a pretty valuable asset to our team."

Joey sighed. "Yeah, okay, even I can see dat…" He paused. "But de next time he says some snobby comment like dat, don't be surprised if he suddenly turns inta a rat or someting."

Yugi shook his head. "I won't be," he said.

With that, the two snapped their fingers, transformed into showers of blue and green light, and soared through the roof of the warehouse and off into Domino to return to their normal teenage lives...for the time being.


End file.
